ModelRailroader.com Reader Poll -November 13, 2003

[Bergie]

If an engine is not equipped with a DCC plug, will it affect your decision to purchase? Please vote then share your opinion.

Polls on Trains.com are not scientific and reflect only the opinions of the users who have chosen to participate. The results cannot be assumed to represent the opinions of Internet users in general, the readers of our magazines, nor the public as a whole. Bottom line, our polls are meant for fun and to stimulate conversation amongst our forum users.

[Anonymous]

I couldn't give a monkey's chuff whether it's got one or not.

I'm 100% DC and if the price is right, then I'll have it anyway. the layouts I am building are small end-to-end layouts, too small to run more than one loco at a time. I also use track sections, so there's no problem with isolating locos.

The only thing I like about DCC is the sound, but it will be a good few years before i can afford that sort of stuff.

Just my two-penneth ($0.02)

Jon in the UK

[Anonymous]

I usually do things using the KISS method---- Keep It Simple, Stupid! Simple is the name of the game. After reading about a ton of literature on the subject of DCC you can flu***he whole idea down the toilet, as far as I'm concerned.

[tomwatkins]

Yes it would. I run Digitrax DCCm mostly with Soundtraxx decoders and speakers. While I've hard wired a good many decoders in the past, I think the current state is at least a DCC plug in newly produced locomotives. If a manufacturer came out with a locomotive that I absolutely had to have ( an accurate Southern Railway PS-4 heavy pacific in plastic for example) I'd probably go for it, but for the more readily available locomotive types such as diesels and USRA steamers the lack of a plug would be a consideration.

Tom Watkins

[AggroJones]

I would prefer it not to have a DCC plug. Keeps the locomotive's electronics more simple.

[Anonymous]

i run dc even though the layout is big enough to run dcc my father and i still run dc and it will be that way till we figure out how to use and wire dcc.

[Anonymous]

My railroad is, and likely will remain, straight 12-volt, with track blocks for two cabs. Even for a modestly-sized railroad (11x14, give or take) that is sufficient. Yes, I'd like headlights and sound, but it's still too many dollars for too little benefit to me.

Having a DCC plug in the loco is one thing. Having the whole decoder as standard has GOT to raise the cost of the loco by a larger amount.

I'll buy a loco with a DCC plug, but most probably not, if it has the whole decoder, and I don't care if it's a North Decoder or a South Decoder.

[Anonymous]

I could care less. I am the type of person that likes to tinker with things. As such it is very rare I actually buy anything new. I am on the lookout for fixer uppers, or second hand deals, or new stuff some hobby store is dumping. This is so I may streatch my hobby money and get more model railroading done. While I am converting to DCC at this time. I am most likely going to have to take what ever I buy apart anyway and its just as easy at that point to wire in a decoder as it is if it has a dcc plug or not. Then if I am scratch building a locomotive, the issiue is completely irrelevent. (Unfortunatly Sctatch building seems to be on the down swing)

[perrylamb]

Most definitely! I have abandoned one model of SD70 Series of locomotive in favor of another because of the lack of an 8-Pin plug. While I enjoy building locomotives, having to hard wire or even install a "drop-in" decoder board is a pain. I believe that DCC will truely become THE way to operate a layout, especially small ones, when DCC plugs are in EVERY locomotive.

[Anonymous]

I am always looking for specific types of engines and that is the first point . I really prefer if the engine is D C C ready .
Thankyou .
Ian

[Anonymous]

If DCC were an issue ... what would happen to all those brass engiens?

[Anonymous]

Since my layout is currently all DCC and my knowledge of electronics is somewhar limited, I prefer the dcc equipped locomotive but can live with one with the DCC plug available.
Al Lonsberry

[Anonymous]

Plug or not is for me a non-issue since even as a new-comer, I have Old Hands helping me hard wire decoders
For PaulM whose read a ton on dcc and passes on it, I'd suggest look once more. I began 2 years ago, was presented w/block wiring and dc controls UNDa manual for it all. I then looked at dcc and found it infinately simpler than dc--lotsa flexability. Went dcc from the start. A breeze.

[Anonymous]

Even though a locomotive doesn't come with a DCC plug it doesn;t mean it can't be easily converted. There are enough manufacturers out there that one of them is bound to make a decoder that will fit easily into the given application.

That said, if the same locomotive is offered by two mnufacturers of equal quality and one has a decoder socket and one doesn't then the one that does will probably be the one I would purchase.

Paul

[Anonymous]

The presence or absence of a DCC plug in of itself would not prevent me from purchasing a model, if it was one I truly wanted. Most of the models I have purchased in the past have not been DCC plug equipped. Only two locomotives are DCC capable, one with a USMRA plug and the other needing the decoder leads to be soldered in.

If the DCC plug were the only thing lacking in the model I wanted to purchase, I'd go ahead and purchase it and buy a solder-in decoder.

[Anonymous]

I'm surprised that so many people don't understand the benefits of DCC. Simplified wiring on the layout, simplified controls. SLIGHTLY more complicated engine work. Sounds like a win-win. Even SMALL layouts with fiddle yards (2x10) can benefit

Manufacturers will find a way to add costs in and with the cost of a "ready to run" loco ever increasing, getting a value add, like a DCC plug, is a good thing.

[Anonymous]

I model in N scale, and I would like to see more manufacturers offering locomotives with factory installed DCC, especially in steam engines. I just find working inside those tiny engines a bit difficult for my large mitts.

[mikemorey]

Just because I know HOW to install a decoder from scratch doesn't mean I WANT to!

Two things are important to expanding the acceptance and use of DCC: the ability to drop in a decoder and the availabilty of engines with pre-installed decoders. It's already making it easier for the masses to get on board.

As the de facto electrician for the model RR club I belong to, I can attest to the benefits of converting to DCC. DCC costs a fraction of what a multiple-cab setup does in both time, money and wiring complexity. I spent over 2 YEARS and $2000 rewiring the club's 6-cab system so that it actually worked. It took just one Saturday and less that $1000 to convert it to DCC.

Of course, the members also had to convert their engines. However, we no longer need a dispatcher whose main task was to flip rotaries just so multiple trains could be run. We can now run anything anywhere with out any help. Plus, we no longer hear the cry of "Who's got my train?" because someone overran a DC block.

Some members have already made the dramatic leap to sound and wouldn't go back. We've even started controlling some turnouts via DCC because the cost per turnout is less than half what just the materials used to cost to build trackside and dispatcher controls. Once again, MUCH less time and wiring is needed and, in the future, it could even be monitored or controlled via computer without ANY additional wiring.

Well, I've strayed somewhat off-topic from the original survey question. My apologies. I just get SO excited about the current power and future potential of DCC...

[Anonymous]

I'm not that advanced that I can program one engine to do a task while I run another one somewhere else on the layout - besides, I'm mainly interested in the building end of model railroading and I haven't even started to build a layout yet. I enjoy making HO building kits, old Sydam kits to be exact, which a friend gave me. I'll have enough fun just trying to keep the darn engines on the track, when I do build a layout, which will probably be a shelf type, N scale because of my limited space at home! In the nearer future, I'll be making an HO module for my RR club. They like HO, which I have plenty of, also!

[Anonymous]

It's never taken me more than 15 minutes to hard wire a DCC board into a loco, so who needs a plug?

[CP5415]

I'm not running dcc on my layout, so it doesn't really matter to me if it wasn't

Gordon

[Anonymous]

Its not all that hard to wire in your own decoder, but having a plug makes it a lot eaiser.
If your not using dcc now-you are missing a lot of fun. My 7 year old grandkids have no trouble runing the trains when they come over. I don't beleive it will be many more years, before almost every new engine will be dcc ready.

[Anonymous]

personally i could'nt care less if the loco has a DCC plug or not. I run a small DC layout so DCC decoders wouldn't be practicle in my diesels. I run diesels that are analog and others that have DCC compatible boards.
I'd buy the loco regardless of the DCC plug.

[Anonymous]

A DCC plug is certainly a plus but wiring a decoder is not that difficult. The decision depends mostly on other factors but a plug is good. There are so many overwhelming advantages to DCC that I find it hard to understand the resistance from some people.

[Anonymous]

Even though I have a small layout, DCC is the future and I want to embrace it as a new hobbyist looking to be in the game for the long-run. For those with massive fleets already, DC understandably is quite attractive. For me, having DCC plugs there means I am getting a locomotive that will allow me to easily upgrade my tiny N-scale engines without frustrating myself in the process!

[Anonymous]

If I had plenty of time I wouldn't mind, but I prefer not to have to install the grab-irons or wire in a decoder. DCC will have 'arrived' when most locos come with the decoder already installed. Steven Burrows, Australia

[Anonymous]

Six months ago I was working on a layout with double ended yard and loco storage tracks; ran into many elec problems with DC. So switched to DCC and converted 12 engines including several 1990 Mantua Goats and am having the time of my life. Start a passenger train on one mainline, a freight on the other main and then do yard or siding switching. No more flipping block switches!
I park my locos anywhere. After 65 years, I am really enjoying my layout.

[Anonymous]

I say yes it would. But if there was an engine I would like that the plug just was available in than I would still buy the engine.

[OurBug]

Well, let's see here on the DCC verus DC issue. I run both on my RR for the simple reason of when I have to repair someone's engine, I got DC. If one of the club members come over with DC, they can run their engines. I run DCC and DC at the same time in different sections of the RR and use COMMON RAIL on the entire RR without any problems of any kind.
So, there is still headlights that work on DC and lights that work on DCC. Haven't figured out where there wouldn't be and lights unless you took them out of the engine.
So as to if it has a plug or not? No problem. It might just run on the club layout in DC.

[:o)]

[Anonymous]

I'm afraid I'm one of these guys who buys purely on looks, mainly because my layout will be all steam. Recently though, I decided to take a closer look at all my locos and found two Rocos and one Brawa were DCC ready. I may look into it in the future but not now. Just let me finish my layout and I'll go from there.